Antisplit device for wood railway-ties.



W. E. WILLIAMS.

ANTISPLIT DEVICE F 00 LWAY TIES.

APPLICATIONF AN. 915.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

WILLIAM ERASTUS WILLIAMS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

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Application filed January 22, 1915.

T 0 all whom it may copoem:

Be it known that T, WILLIAM E. Wit.- LIAMS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, reslding at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AntisplltDevices for Wood Railway-Ties, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

The object of this invention isto provide improved means for preventingthe deterioration of railway ties through checking or splitting at theends.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a section on the line 11, Fig.3, showing a tie provided with one embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 isa diametrical sectlon of a ring shown in Fig. 1, a position which itssharp edge has before the completion of the ring being shown in dottedlines. Fig. 3 is p a section on the line 33, Fig. 1. Figs. 4, 5,

6, are, respectively, a side view, an edge view, and a cross section ofa bar difi'ering slightly from the constituent ring bar seen in Figs. 1,2, 3. Figs. 7, 8, 9 are views similar to Figs. 4, 5, 6, respectively,but showing a slight modification. Figs. 10, 11, 12, are views strictlyanalogous to Figs. 4, 5, 6, but showing a further modification. Fig. 13is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a ring in use and made of a bar likethat shown'in Figs. 10, 11, 12. Fig. 14 isa section like Fig. 13 butshowing the ring as made from the bar of Figs. 4, 5, 6. Fig. 15 is anend view of a tie provided with a sort of discontinuous ring binder.Fig. 16 is a view similar to Fig. 15 but showing a difl'erentdiscontinuous ring. Fig. 17 is a like view showing a binder of the old 8form instead of ring form. Fig. 18 shows the tie of Fig. 17 forciblysplit, the binder having slipped in its seat as it will when of theusual smooth form. Fig. 19 shows similarly a common sinuous binder in atie end. Fig. 20 shows the same tie forcibly split transversely to thebinder and again split by the wedging action of the wavy bar when it iscompelled to slip longitudinally. Fig. 21 is a view similar to Fig. 19but showing the bar with its end portions extended obliquely nearly tothe lateral surface of the tie. Fig. 22 shows in end view a tie providedwith an endless oval ring which may illustrate a common widely usedbinder having its constituent bar externally smooth. Fig. 23 is a likeview of a tie pro- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 112, 191MB.

Serial No. 3,807.

vided with four binder bars so placed as to overlap and to inclose acentral portion of the tie end, this portion corresponding to the partinclosed by the endless ring of Fig. 2. Fig. 24 is a perspective viewshowing a portion of a ring similar to the ring of Figs. 1, 2, 3.

It is common to drive into the end of a tie any of many forms of smoothbinders having one sharp margin'which facilitates entrance into thewood.Among the forms are those having the general forms shown in thedrawings, and since all have serious defects in use, extensive andsystematic experiments have been made to determine fully the characterof such defects, with a view to correcting them. The binder of 8 formwhen made of the usual smooth bar acts as indicated in Fig. 18 when thetie X is forci- I bly split. The crack usually begins at the surface onopposite sides of the tie and opens widely before any great strain isborne by the binder bar, but, when such strain occurs the bar slipslongitudinally in its seat, at the same time changing its curvature. Theserpentine form of Figs. 19, 21 acts similarly, and in this case thelongitudinalslipping tends even more strongly that in the case of the 8form to split the tie parallel to the binder by a wedge-like action. Thefaults of the common endless ring form of Fig. 22, wherein theconstituent bar 'is smooth, are that it is difficult to drive tioned;and this form having slight, resistance to slipping is therefore themore likely to break at some weak point. In driving discontinuous forms,blows beginning at one end are progressively advanced toward the otherend, but in the closed ring forms this is not feasible and in practiceone person holds a plate over the binder, keeping the binder as nearlyas may be in the desired position on the tie end, while another personstrikes the plate over the central portion of the binder, driving allparts simultaneously by very heavy blows.

The various evils are avoided by making the binder such that, whateverits shape as a whole, a short segment will offer such resistance toslipping that the bar will break before appreciable slipping occurs andat the same time any material injury to the dttl wood by wedging actionor otherwise is avoided. These results are obtained by making the binderbar, whatever the outline of the binder as a Whole, with lateral proections or lugs on one or both of its broad faces, the lugs being ofsuch form as to present shoulders transverse to the corresponding partof the bar, to engage large port ons of the tie wood and make slippingimpossible.

When the binder is a closed or endless ring, I prefer to make it asshown 1 n Figs. 1, 2, 3 where A represents a broad uniformly thickportion of a ring made from a flat bar similar to that shown in Figs. 4,5, 6. The bar may be primarily beveled on opposite faces to form acutting edge B, and may have at short intervals lateral lugs C which arebeveled equally on each side to form transverse cutting edges D, all asshown 1n Figs. 4, 5, 6. This bar is deformed by having its beveledportion pressed to one s de, from the positionsuggested by dotted linesin Fig. 2 to the position indicated by full lines, where the entireouter face of the bar has no bevel While the inner face has an inclineextending from one face to the other of the bar as a whole. Thisdeforming locates the lugs as in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 24, the outer ones Clying wholly outside the body of the ring. Obviously in this form thewood within the ring is highly compressed, the faces of the lugs arenearly perpendicular to the line of direction of the correspondingportions of the binder bar, and in driving there is very little tendencyto split off the wood outside the ring. The binder bar of Figs. 4, 5, 6may be used without deforming, as shown in Fig. 14, but in this case thecompression of the wood is less and the tendency to split off the woodoutside the ring is much greater.

Figs. 7, 8, 9 illustrate alternately offsetting the lugs C on oppositefaces of the binder bar.

In Figs. 10, 11, 12 one entire face of the binder is withoutprojections, the bevel and the lugs C being all upon the one face. Whenthis bar is bent or made into ring form and inserted in a tie, as inFig. 13, it has many of the advantages of the binder of Figs. 1, 2, 3,but it lacks the external lugs.

Bars such as set forth may be cut to desired length and used to formbinders suitable for almost any possible conditions, several differentforms being shown in Figs. 15 to 21, and 23.

The forms of Figs, 17, 19, 22, when made without lateral projections areusual forms, and when so made they have the faults suggested by Figs. 18and 20 and hereinbefore mentioned.

Figs. 15, 21, show binders having long laterally projecting ends andwhen these forms are used with ties already checked it is usuallypossible to place them so that they will prevent further splitting, evenwhen a corner threatens to split off.

The forms of Figs. 15, 16, 23 have most of the advantages of the endlessring forms, yet they cost slightly less and may be progressively drivenas above suggested. The form of Fig. 23 would have little or nopractical value if made of smooth bars, but

when made of my shouldered bars it is highly effective; and it may benoted that its parts may be varied in relative positions according tothe form of the particular tie and any developed tendency to splitting.

What I claim is:

1. An anti-split device for railway ties consisting of a flat metalstrip in curvilinear form having on one face a series of lateralprojections with abrupt shoulders adapted to resist equally longitudinalslipping in either direction when the strip has been driven in wood, oneface of the strip being straight in cross section and the opposite facebeing beveled to meet the face first mentioned at one edge of the strip.

2. An anti-split device for railway ties consisting of a fiat strip incurvilinear form beveled on one broad face to meet the oppositenon-beveled face at the margin of the strip forming a sharp edge andprovided on one face with transverse projections having abrupt shouldersadapted to resist equally longitudinal slipping in either direction whendriven in wood, said projections terminating in sharp edges near theedge first mentioned.

. 3. An anti-split device for railway ties consisting of a flat metalstrip in curvilinear form beveled on one broad face to meet the otherbroad face at one margin of the strip and provided on each face withtransverse projections terminating in sharp edges near the intersectionof the two faces, each of said projections extending outward from theadjacent portion of the strip to a distance approximately equal to halfthe thickness of the strip.

4. An anti-split device for railway ties consisting of a pliable fiatmetal strip having one marginal portion of uniform thickness, the stripbeing beveled on one face to form a cutting edge at the margin of thenon-beveled opposite face and both faces being provided with transverseprojections each merging at one end in one face of said marginal portionand having a cutting edge, at its opposite end, approximately equal inlength to one half the thickness of the strip.

5. An anti-split device for railway ties composed of a metal stripadapted to be driven into the end of a tie and provided with lateralprojections havin abrupt shoulders transverse to the genera line ofdirection of the corresponding portion of the strip, the said stripbeing formed to embrace the curved in outline and embracing portions of10 the Wood and having overlapped end portions.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of a Witness.

WILLIAM ERASTUS WILLIAMS.

Witness:

JAMES L. CRAWFORD.

